Why Women Have Abortions

64 percent of American women said they felt
pressured by others to have an abortion, according to a report in
Medical Science Monitor. (1)

Examples of coerced abortions

Two men in New York have been jailed for
killing pregnant girlfriends who refused to have abortions. (2)

A Maine couple kidnapped their pregnant
19-year-old daughter and attempted to transport her to New York to force her
to have an abortion. (3)

A police officer in South Carolina was
arrested for assault and attempting to kill a 19-year-old girl. He was
forcing her to abortion their child. (4)

A Georgia mother and a pair of cousins were
arrested for forcing a 16-year-old pregnant girl to consume turpentine in an
abortion attempt. (5)

Eyewitness Accounts of Forced Abortions

On June 6, 2006, I found out I was going to
be a mother. I felt my baby moving at 14 weeks. It was a good baby. I was forced
to get an abortion by my mother. I look at my ultrasound everyday.
--13-15-Year-Old Female

I’m sixteen and I recently had an abortion.
I automatically fell in love with my baby – but when we told our parents our
happiness soon faded. When I found out that I actually had an appointment to let
someone kill my child I couldn’t believe my mom couldn’t understand what I was
going through. The whole time the doctor did the abortion I was crying. I
couldn’t believe my baby was dying. I don’t even want to sleep at night because
I have nightmares and replay the whole thing over and over in my head.
--16–Year-Old Female

Reasons Cited by Women for Having Abortions

92% of Women Cite “Social” or “Other” as
the Most Important Reason for Abortion (6)

25% Not ready for another child/timing is wrong

23% Can’t afford a baby now

19% Completed my childbearing/have other people
depending on me/children are grown

More than 50 percent of abortions are repeat
abortions--in other words, abortions performed on women who have already had one
or more abortions. This indicates that women are using abortion as a
method of birth control.